High Praise, Indeed

The biggest controversy at the debate, hosted by Wolf Blitzer of CNN, on January 21, 2008 in South Carolina, pertained to Senator Barack Obama's statements allegedly praising Ronald Reagan and Republican ideas. Here is Obama denying that he had praised the former GOP president:

What I said -- and I will provide you with a quote -- what I said was is that Ronald Reagan was a transformative political figure because he was able to get Democrats to vote against their economic interests to form a majority to push through their agenda, an agenda that I objected to.

However, thanks to openleft.com, we have the relevant excerpt from the Illinois Senator's interview with the Reno Gazette editorial board on January 14, 2008:

I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what's different are the times. I do think that for example the 1980 was different. I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.

Somehow, "put(ting) us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it" sounds a lot different- and better- than "getting "Democrats to vote against their economic interests." Doing so because of "all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s" and the lack "of accountability in terms of how it (government) was operating" sure sounds like a positive thing to me. And someone who has "tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing" can only be admired, especially when he has "changed the trajectory of America."

So Barack Obama admires what Ronald Reagan did for the United States of America. As wrong as he is, he's entitled to his opinion. But he's not entitled to deceive the Democratic Party and its voters into believing that he was offended by someone, and whose Presidency, he clearly supported.

Which raises another issue- which "excesses of the 1960s and 1970s" so infuriated Barack Obama? Was it the labor movement, the consumer movement, the womens' movement, or the civil rights movement? Perhaps Senator Obama can enlighten us as only he can.